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Popular philosopher Alain de Botton once propounded the theory that road rage is the result of an overly optimistic nature: The pessimist expects traffic to be terrible and other drivers to be idiots, and so doesn’t experience the same outbursts of frustration and despair as the optimist. Bulgarian director Stephan Komanderev’s largely road-bound “Directions,” an ensemble drama of vignettes that explores the fissures and crevices in modern Bulgarian society through a series of taxi rides, might well have been founded on this counterintuitive principle. Indeed at one point a character remarks offhandedly: “Bulgaria is a country of optimists. All the pessimists and realists left long ago.” Yet for a place full of optimists, there sure is a lot of trauma around — suicide, ill health, economic desolation, political disenchantment, social stratification — all of which Komandarev’s clever, fleet-footed film observes with poignant accuracy and flashes of wry humor.

The award is presented to an AFI alumnus who embodies the qualities of Schaffner — “talent, taste, dedication and commitment to quality storytelling in film and television.” Schaffner earned 28 Academy Award nominations during his 40-year career.

Even when you live in Los Angeles, as I do, if you’re not in the network of critics groups and press screening and screener DVDs it can be a challenge to keep up with everything you tell yourself you have to see before attempting an informed roundup of the year currently in the rearview mirror. And I also try to not let more than a couple of weeks of the new year go by before checking in, regardless of how many of the year’s big presents I have left to unwrap, though in past years I have not lived well by this dictum—let’s just say that if I’m still posting stuff on the year’s best after even Oscar has thoroughly chewed over the goods, as has happened in the past, well, I’ve overstayed my welcome.

A Jim Jarmusch movie is unmistakable. He’s a storyteller who favors richness of detail over plot, whether it’s reunited vampires (“Only Lovers Left Alive”), escaped prisoners (“Down By Law”), or a cousin visiting from Budapest (“Stranger Than Paradise”). Small in scale, generous in production value, and tempered with idiosyncratic rhythms and dry humor, his films represent one the most original and uncompromised bodies of work in American cinema.

However, while Jarmusch might seem to be an auteur-theory poster child, the filmmaker told IndieWire’s David Ehrlich in 2014 (then writing for The Guardian) that he doesn’t believe, for him, the concept of director-as-author applies:

“I put ‘A film by’ as a protection of my rights, but I don’t really believe it. It’s important for me to have a final cut, and I do for every film. So I’m in the editing room every day, I

Grief can take hold of even the strongest people and refuse to let go. It’s why they describe it as a “process.” Maris Curran’s “Five Nights In Maine” takes this idea to heart as it follows Sherwin (David Oyelowo), a recent widower who lost his wife Fiona (Hani Furstenberg) in a car accident. Stricken by grief and depression, he travels to a remote corner of Maine to see Fiona’s cancer-stricken mother Lucinda (Dianne Wiest) who’s being taken care of by caring nurse Ann (Rosie Perez). Tensions run high as both Sherwin and Lucinda deal with the tragedy, and struggle to come to terms with their feelings towards each other and Fiona. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below featuring Sherwin and Ann discussing the loss.

Fans of Stranger Things have had fun picking through all of the Netflix hit's retro references, from the copious E.T. homages to that John Carpenter-esque synth score. But the best nod to the past isn't the hairstyles, the marathon Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, or even the soundtrack full of New Order and Echo & The Bunnymen songs. No, the real stroke of nostalgic genius is the casting of Winona Ryder as distraught single mom Joyce Byers. From the moment the actress appears, the pulse of every 1980s kid starts to quicken.

Exclusive: Film becomes the seventh Jarmusch title in the company’s classic collection.

Cult director Jim Jarmusch is a major presence at this year’s Cannes with two films in official selection. Now, one of his classics from a decade ago, Coffee And Cigarettes (2003), has been added to The Match Factory’s Jarmusch library

“Tempestad” traces a woman’s 1,200 mile journey back to her home in southern Mexico after she’s realeased from prison in the north. Her off-camera narration mixes with a second woman’s story, their voices echoing over shots of the landscapes and highways of Mexico.

“ ‘Tempestad’ fits perfectly with our portfolio of socially aware films. In addition, the filmmakers have incredible integrity, an aesthetic vision and a strong authorial voice,” said Cinephil’s Philippa Kowarsky.

“For us, working with Tatiana was also an opportunity to highlight the enormous amount of talent of Mexican woman directors,

Thanks to Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq, Amazon has begun to receive some visibility in American movie theaters. Now, it is look to make another splash in the film world by teaming up with another well-known director. Amazon Original Movies will distribute Paterson, a film from indie legend Jim Jarmusch.

Paterson will star Star Wars’ Adam Driver as a bus driver named Paterson who works, coincidentally, in the city of Paterson, NJ. Golshifteh Farahani will play Paterson’s wife, and the film will examine the minutiae of their daily lives. "Paterson is a funny, philosophical and moving story that only Jim can tell. We look forward to working closely with him and supporting his vision in bringing the film to life," said Ted Hope, Head of Motion Picture Production at Amazon Studios, in a press release. "Adam Driver is one of this generation's most gifted actors. It'll be exciting to see

James Quandt in the new issue of Artforum on Jafar Panahi's Taxi: "That the director of such teeming, expansive works as The Circle (2000) and Offside (2006) should find himself limited to the confines of a car may seem lamentable, but Taxi has illustrious cab-bound ancestors, most obviously Ten (2002) by Panahi’s mentor, Abbas Kiarostami, as well as Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth (1991). And with the intrepid Panahi in the driver’s seat as both novice cabbie and veteran filmmaker, spatial restrictions predictably provide ample opportunity for formal innovation." Also today: David Bordwell on Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley, La Furia Umana on Manoel de Oliveira—and more. » - David Hudson

Catherine Coulson, a veteran camera assistant and actress best known as Margaret Lanterman, or the Log Lady, on David Lynch's Twin Peaks, died Monday morning of cancer, Variety reports. She was 71.

"Today I lost one of my dearest friends, Catherine Coulson," Lynch said in a statement. "Catherine was solid gold. She was always there for her friends — she was filled with love for all people — for her family — for her work. She was a tireless worker. She had a great sense of humor — she loved to laugh and make people laugh.

Lynch said in a statement, “Today I lost one of my dearest friends, Catherine Coulson. Catherine was solid gold. She was always there for her friends — she was filled with love for all people — for her family — for her work. She was a tireless worker. She had a great sense of humor — she loved to laugh and make people laugh.

Lynch said in a statement, “Today I lost one of my dearest friends, Catherine Coulson. Catherine was solid gold. She was always there for her friends — she was filled with love for all people — for her family — for her work. She was a tireless worker. She had a great sense of humor — she loved to laugh and make people laugh.

Following the award ceremony, Mueller-Stahl will present Jim Jarmusch’s Night On Earth at the Arthouse Le Paris cinema on Sept 28.

Mueller-Stahl is one of the few German actors of distinction whose careers have spanned East Germany, West Germany and Hollywood. His most noteworthy films include Lola (1981), Oberst Redl (1985), Momo (1986), Music Box (1989), Night On Earth (1991), Das Geisterhaus (1993) and Shine (1996).

Zff co-directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri said: “We are proud to welcome 84-year-old Armin Mueller-Stahl as our guest to this year’s festival. He is, in our opinion, one of the most important German actors of all time. His skills as a polyglot performer oscillating effortlessly between stage and screen, Germany and the USA, have more than earned him this award.”

Raised in the German Democratic Republic (Gdr) and initially trained as a concert

Director Sean Baker (Starlet, Prince of Broadway, Take Out) was reportedly inspired to make Tangerine, after observing the customers of a donut shop in Hollywood’s red-light district. Tangerine’s stars are a pair of first-time actresses, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor. They play two trans sex workers – Sin-Dee, who’s just been released from a 28-day stint in prison for drug possession – and her best friend Alexandra who prepares for a gig singing at a local nightclub. The film follows the duo over the course of a day – opening on a donut shop which serves as one of the key locations the two transitioning male-to-female call girls hang out. It’s the morning of Christmas Eve at the sketchy intersection of Santa Monica and Highland in Los Angeles and Alexandra and Sin-Dee are sharing a red-and-green sprinkled donut.

Oscar-nominated actress Gena Rowlands will receive the La Film Critics Association’s Career Achievement kudos this winter, the org announced today. In an acclaimed career that’s spanned six decades, Rowlands nabbed Academy Award nominations for her iconic roles in two of her ten films for filmmaker/husband John Cassavetes, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence. She won the Golden Globe for the latter and snagged three Emmy wins on the small screen.

The six re-mastered films will be released digitally on Sept. 15 to coincide with the digital, DVD, Blu-Ray and Steelbook release of “Only Lovers Left Alive.”

A Blu-Ray box set of the six films will be released Oct. 6. To coincide with this, Soda will give a theatrical release to “Down By Law.” A complete retrospective of Jarmusch’s features will run at BFI Southbank in London Sept. 9 to Oct. 7, with a smaller selection of pics going on tour around the U.K.

The library deal was negotiated between Brigitte Suarez of The Match Factory and Eve Gabereau of Soda.

Director Jim Jarmusch has made a career of examining people and the idiosyncrasies they embrace. Whether it’s the journey of three imprisoned men in Down by Law or the account of cab drivers from different parts of the world in Night on Earth, Jarmusch has the skillful ability of forming fascinating characters that serve the story.

While Jarmusch has explored numerous genres, Only Lovers Left Alive is his first endeavor into the realm of horror and the subgenre of vampire mythology. What Jarmusch accomplishes with this moody piece of cinema is another achievement in his already impressive career.

Taking place in the nighttime desolation of both Detroit and Tangier, Eve (Tilda Swinton) is a wise and sympathetic vampire who has survived longer than most of her kind. She is in an enduring married relationship with Adam (Tom Hiddleston), a cynical musician whose existence amongst a changing humanity has brought despair into his world.

Loners and outcasts have no greater cinematic patron saint than Jim Jarmusch, the fiercely independent writer-director who's spent over three decades chronicling urban fringe-dwellers, road trippers, rockabilly tourists, Zen hitmen and, now, vampires. The 60-year-old filmmaker's latest, Only Lovers Left Alive, centers on a centuries-old couple (played by Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston) who like their Type O served neat, though its a far cry from the recent wave of vampire chic; it's really a languorous romance in which two lovers struggle with immortality-engendered ennui. It may be Jarmusch's first foray into horror films,

When Ohio-born New Yorker Jim Jarmusch is good, he's very very good, but some of his work can feel indulgent and thin (see "Limits of Control")--and often sparks heated debate. But even this indie pioneer, who was among the first to raise backing for his idiosyncratic projects overseas, says that raising that financing hasn't gotten any easier. "It’s getting more and more difficult for films that are maybe a little unusual or maybe not predictable or not satisfying people’s expectations of something," he says, "which is the beauty of cinema: discovering new things of all forms." To coincide with the release of the indie auteur's eleventh feature, "Only Lovers Left Alive" (April 11), we at Toh! have ranked his films from bottom to top. 11. "Night on Earth," 1991 (**1/2). Five cities, five taxis, lives intersecting for moments on the meter and sometimes missing the connection – such was the conceit of

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